THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Pound Firm to Raze City Building

Issue Date: September 27, 2017

The City of Peshtigo Fire, Lighting & Building Committee awarded a bid to raze the former Oestreich property at 311 French Street during its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 21. This was also the former Hammes Garage.

The bid to demolish the building was awarded to Dan Risner & Son Excavating of Pound, whose base bid came in at $36,736. The committee also received three other bids: Carlie's Landscaping & Excavating in Oconto at a price of $74,000; Kruczek Construction, in Green Bay bid $49,500; and Badgerland Demolition Earthwork, of Wrightstown submitted a price of $58,500.

The committee also authorized Clerk-Treasurer Vicki Koronkiewicz to contact the temp agency regarding its open cleaning service/janitor position after determining the one application they received was not sufficient.

The committee reviewed the 2018 Municipal Building and Community Center budget. The estimated municipal building budget for 2018 is $29,900, down from $39,208 in 2017 and the estimated community center budget for 2018 is $10,100, down from $13,392 in 2017.

The 2018 Fire Department budget was presented by Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Gardon. While there were not many substantial changes to the budget from the year prior, Gardon did note that one of the fire department's current trucks from 1974 would need to be replaced in the near future.

During its meeting on Friday, Sept. 22, the Parks & Recreation Committee reviewed the 2018 Parks & Recreation budget, presented by Parks and Recreation Director Dave Zahn. The committee directed Zahn to purchase a patch kit with leftover funds still available from this year's budget rather than include it in next year's budget.

During the meeting, Zahn stated the city had met its income goal for the Badger Park Campground for the camping season.

Police Chief Joseph FitzGerald gave the 2018 Police Department budget at the License and Police Committee meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26. FitzGerald also submitted his capital outlay project requests, which included, in order of priority, $6,000 toward new tasers and holsters which he noted were a desperate need, $6,000 toward new shotguns and $8,000 toward new office furniture.

After discussion occasional tweaks, all budgets were approved by the committees and forwarded to the Finance Committee for more discussion and approval.